Rohit Bal, Wills Lifestyle India Week spring/summer 2008 finale

Rohit Bal, Wills Lifestyle India Week spring/summer 2008 finale

Rohit Bal, Couture 2010

Rohit Bal, Couture 2010

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Image: Rohit Bal

Rohit Bal autumn/winter 2011

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Image: Rohit Bal

Rohit Bal, Wills Lifestyle India Week autumn/winter 2012

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Image: Rohit Bal

Rohit Bal, Bridal Week 2013

There are some amazing things that we editors, as purveyors of fashion, are privy to while we sit by the ringside of a fashion designer’s life. We get to experience a whole gamut of experiences that span their lives, from political to social, from beauty to gender.

For me personally, Rohit Bal’s world is riveting. The fashion universe that he speaks of and nurtures with great love and sincerity, is all about freedom for women, “freedom from mental colonialism, which [hinders] our country from celebrating our sartorial heritage,” as he puts it. Rohit doesn’t mince words. He is a gay rights advocate, is solidly pro-choice and doesn’t hesitate to use his fame and power to comment on Indian society and its politics. His design leitmotif—the peacock, is not just a simple embroidered design; it is a symbol of freedom in every sphere of his life. When the plumes open up, so to speak, it is a reminder to open our minds and embrace a world that may be different from our own, he says.

The social and gender history of modern India runs alongside Bal’s creative gusto. Right from the ’80s, when he came into the limelight as a defiant designer, he began creating a world around him that included everything he believed in. Walk into his library-like home in New Delhi and you will see a posse of fabulous young men sauntering around; but observe closely and you will find his idea of an alternative family, where love and loyalty abound. At home, Bal is likely to burst into old Kishore Kumar songs or hand out colossal coffee-table books on Frank Gehry or Mario Testino for all to enjoy. Rich biryani is in endless supply and nights end with mellow Sufi music. You may think Rohit has a thing for disenfranchised souls congregating together; but in reality he is constantly creating spaces for creativity and love.

“In my home,” Bal says, “no one is judged and everyone is important.” The unfettered freedom and parallel world he creates can be seen in the way he has designed clothes for women and fought for the sanctity of Indian wear. He went back to Mughal history and resurrected traditional silhouettes like the anarkali, angrakha, sharara and lehenga, albeit with a modern touch. He put to use Western pattern-cutting methods for classic Indian designs, giving them a shape and form befitting the aesthetics of modern men and women—regal but real (the intricately embroidered or patchwork jackets can easily be worn with one’s favourite jeans and boots in Paris or New York). At a pace that only he is capable of sustaining, he has made the last 25 years a study in modern Indian fashion and reflects as much about the designer as the society that we live in today. Here is raising a toast to 25 years of the original rebel with a cause—Rohit Bal.